December 25, 2014

Bird flu spread continues around the world, WHO says

Avian flu continues to spread across the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

It said the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) was notified of an outbreak of the avian flu virus H5N8 on a turkey farm in Porto Viro in northeastern Italy.

More than 1,200 birds had been infected and had died. Culling started on Dec. 16. Restriction zones were established, and control measures (disinfection, culling and movement control) are going on. Genetic analyses are currently under way to confirm that this virus is similar to those observed in other European outbreaks.

A new H5N8 bird flu outbreak was also reported in the week beginning Dec. 15 on a poultry farm in Niedersachsen, Germany, prompting the culling of birds at this location, as well as on a neighbouring turkey farm. It was confirmed that the virus was similar to that of an outbreak in November, WHO said.

The OIE said two more outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 have been reported in the Netherlands, WHO said. As of Dec. 3, several disease control measures were applied in protection and surveillance zones surrounding the outbreaks, including culling, disinfection, control of wildlife reservoirs and movement control.

No further outbreaks of H5N8 have been reported in the U.K. since November and the protection zone around the previous outbreak was lifted on Dec. 12. There remains only the larger surveillance zone, where disease control measures are still applied.

In addition to the cases in poultry in Europe, widespread outbreaks of HPAI H5N8 were reported earlier in South Korea and Japan, some of which are still going on. In the U.S., HPAI H5N8 was detected in a captive wild bird last week but has not been found in poultry.